Trish Stratus praises Victoria.
Trish Stratus, Lita, Victoria, Jazz, Molly Holly, and more helped usher in a new era of women's wrestling in WWE as they were given more opportunities to wrestle and push the boundaries in the ring. Stratus referenced such opportunities in her WWE Raw promo, feeling her era opened doors for women like Becky Lynch, who never said thank you.
Speaking on WWE After The Bell, Trish reflected on moments that helped define her era, including her hardcore match with Victoria at WWE Survivor Series 2002.
"We bring Victoria in, different angle, we're going to go hardcore. We're going to show that we can get crazy and take a chair shot. Taking one chair shot, it had to get cleared, it was a big deal. Now, it's like there are 17 chair shots in one women's match. We did that," she said.
When Corey Graves said that Victoria doesn't get talked about enough, Stratus agreed and said, "But not in the Hall of Fame talk. We were right there. We were there when fans were at the point of, 'I think we're digging this, women can wrestle. Cool. I'll watch. I won't go to the bathroom during this segment,' and they would tune in. Victoria and I knew, 'We got them now.' They're giving us characters and storyline development and we're actually going to have a (video) package before we go out and wrestle. We didn't have that before. Now, we get it, just like the guys. Victoria was there and we were at that moment where we turned the corner for women's wrestling where, 'Now, this is an acceptable part of the show,' and we're going to take it to another level and go hardcore and do stuff that you didn't see the women do. We killed our bodies doing it. I find it so crazy that she is so underrated, under recognized. How many times are we going to have a Hall of Fame? I love Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler, but this is a wrestling (company), I know we don't say 'wrestling,' for some reason, I don't know why, I am a wrestler and we work for World Wrestling Entertainment, I'd like to see a wrestler maybe get into the Hall of Fame next like Victoria. Maybe I'm crazy."
Victoria recently returned to the ring for IMPACT Wrestling. She has not competed in WWE since making a surprise appearance in the 2021 women's Royal Rumble.
Elsewhere during the interview, Stratus revealed when she took an interest in working with Becky Lynch. You can find her full comments by clicking here.
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